NCCnovel Chapter 191 Recollections 2.14 - Favor
Chapter 191 Recollections 2.14 - Favor
The fifth month of the sixteenth year of the Tianlong reign—
In the first month after Emperor Xuande's health improved, he issued an edict appointing Tianji Daoren as the Grand Preceptor of the Jing Dynasty.
At the same time, Emperor Xuande also issued an edict ordering the Ministry of Rites to select an auspicious day and the Ministry of Revenue to allocate 10,000 taels of silver to build a Taoist temple for Tianji Daoren in the palace as quickly as possible for him to practice and live in.
The entire government and the public were shocked.
Numerous officials submitted memorials advising Emperor Xuande against becoming obsessed with magic arts and against building a Taoist temple within the palace grounds.
However, Emperor Xuande ignored the objections and advice of many.
He acted unilaterally, not only punishing the officials who dared to remonstrate with severe beatings in court, leaving them with lacerated skin, but also dismissing the Minister of Revenue, who had been the most vocal opponent, and imprisoning him in the imperial jail.
Everyone thought that Emperor Xuande was just acting out of momentary anger.
After all, the Minister of Revenue was not only Consort Rong's biological father and the Emperor's father-in-law, but he had also strongly supported Emperor Xuande's ascension to the throne.
Unexpectedly, the Minister of Revenue died suddenly in prison the very next day.
The court officials were greatly alarmed upon seeing this.
Some even wanted the prime minister to intervene and offer advice, but he was happy to see that happen.
Not only did he immediately place his own people in the position after the death of the Minister of Revenue.
He even took the initiative to stand on Emperor Xuande's side, expressing his willingness to contribute to the construction of the Taoist temple.
At this point, everyone in the court and among the people fell silent, daring not to speak further.
Thus, under such high pressure and coercion, and with immense financial and labor costs, a luxurious Taoist temple rose from the ground within half a year.
On the day of its completion, Emperor Xuande would personally lead his imperial family members and civil and military officials to kneel before the Taoist temple and pray to the national teacher for blessings.
The sixteenth year of the Tianlong reign, the yang month—
On this day, the autumn wind was bleak and the drizzle was continuous.
The sacred banners in the Taoist temple fluttered in the wind, and wisps of incense smoke rose straight into the sky.
Fu Tingyu stood in the crowd and met the eyes of the Sixth Prince.
In just a few months, his once bloated figure had become extremely thin.
His face was so haggard that it was completely devoid of color, and even his eyes had lost their luster, looking lifeless.
Clearly, he hasn't had a good time in the past six months.
When the tree falls, the monkeys scatter. After the death of the Minister of Revenue, his followers were almost entirely wiped out by the Prime Minister's faction, who took advantage of the situation.
The Sixth Prince's faction fell apart, and the scions of noble families and princes who had once been on good terms with him began to avoid him.
He not only lost his most important support, but his mother was also devastated by the loss of her father and fell ill and never recovered.
Just a few days earlier, Consort Rong had also passed away from illness.
At this point, he had lost both the influence of his maternal family and the protection of his mother.
The sixth prince has now fallen from grace.
He was a completely different person from the one who used to be favored and dignified. Even now, there were very few palace servants around him.
It seemed to sense the gaze directed at them.
The Sixth Prince also raised his head. His gaze at Fu Tingyu was complicated. He opened his mouth, but in the end, he just smiled complicatedly and looked away.
Fu Tingyu pursed his lips, sighed silently, and then lifted his eyelids again, looking past the crowd to the Xuande Emperor standing at the very front.
In the past six months, since Emperor Xuande recovered from his illness, Fu Tingyu has hardly seen him at all.
He was like a completely different person.
His temperament became more unpredictable, and he grew increasingly suspicious and cruel.
He no longer cared about powerful families, nobles, or influential officials. Now, anyone in the court who harbored even the slightest disloyalty would be punished and purged by the Xuande Emperor under various pretexts.
Although the Prime Minister's role in this was also partly to encourage it.
But Fu Tingyu knew that the real culprit who caused Emperor Xuande's temperament to change drastically and his behavior to become increasingly erratic and reckless was none other than the Taoist priest who had cured him.
As a result, Emperor Xuande began to neglect the affairs of state, rarely even setting foot in the inner palace, and instead became obsessed with Taoist arts, showing extreme favoritism towards the Taoist Tianji.
At this moment, Emperor Xuande, surrounded by a crowd, stood solemnly in front of the Taoist temple with his civil and military officials, waiting for the arrival of the Imperial Preceptor.
Fu Tingyu's gaze lingered on Emperor Xuande.
Although he was freed from the torment of illness, he looked even weaker than when he was sick, and his face appeared much older than before.
His face was frighteningly pale, his lips were cracked, his eyes were bloodshot and unfocused, and half of his black hair was gray.
He didn't look like someone recovering from a serious illness; rather, he looked like an elderly person in their twilight years.
The prime minister standing beside him was dressed in an official robe, with a ruddy complexion and a vigorous spirit.
Standing next to Emperor Xuande, she actually looked several years younger than him.
Fu Tingyu didn't look for long, because in the next moment, a series of clear bell sounds suddenly came from afar.
Everyone heard the sound and looked around.
Before everyone's eyes, a gleaming golden palanquin appeared from afar.
Around the palanquin, twelve yellow-clad Taoist boys, each wielding a ritual implement, were also present.
They grew closer and closer.
Until a gust of wind blew by, lifting the gauze curtain on the sedan chair and revealing the scene inside, everyone's expression changed.
There was no one there at all.
Soon, the sedan chair arrived in front of everyone and slowly came down.
As soon as the sedan chair stopped, twelve Taoist boys lined up in a row, standing still on both sides of the sedan chair.
Just as everyone was discussing this, suddenly, a wisp of green smoke burst out from inside the sedan chair!
Smoke curled and rose, enveloping the entire palanquin.
Finally, as the crowd slowly dispersed, a figure emerged from the sedan chair, their robes fluttering in the breeze.
Then, the Taoist priest, dressed in a yellow robe and holding a magic scripture, appeared out of thin air before everyone's eyes.
"Good! Good! Good!"
Emperor Xuande was overjoyed upon witnessing this incredible scene.
His eyes were filled with fervor as he repeatedly praised the Heavenly Mystery Taoist.
"It is truly a great fortune for my Great Jing Dynasty to have such a national advisor!"
The prime minister beside him kept clapping his hands and bowed to the Taoist priest with a devout expression, as if he truly regarded the person in front of him as a deity descended to earth.
A moment later, led by Emperor Xuande, everyone present knelt down and respectfully paid homage to the Taoist Master Tianji.
Fu Tingyu lowered his eyes and knelt down with the others.
Three hours later, at the Seventh Prince's Palace—
"Ah chirp!"
Fu Tingyu was wrapped in thick bedding, his head covered with a face towel, and he sneezed muffledly.
Chu Ling had a sullen face, and her hands kept wiping his hair.
Seeing Fu Tingyu, who had been soaked in the rain for several hours and was still sneezing after returning, the resentment he felt towards certain people skyrocketed.
"Has that charlatan been confirmed to be one of the Prime Minister's men?"
Chu Heng sat to the side watching, feeling it was necessary to make his presence known, so he spoke up.
"Cannot be found."
Fu Tingyu spoke in a muffled voice, "Since the Prime Minister intends to conceal it, he will not leave any trace."
Upon hearing this, Chu Ling paused, his expression turning cold. "The Empress's faction has always regarded you and Consort Chen as thorns in their side. They might very well have the Imperial Advisor instigate the Emperor to take action against you."
The air froze instantly upon hearing this.
After a moment, Fu Tingyu sighed softly, "If we really have to take action, given our current situation, we are powerless to resist."
But then, she abruptly changed the subject, "However..."
Fu Tingyu lifted the veil from her face, revealing half of her face, and winked at Chu Ling.
"I don't think that the so-called national advisor will still listen to them obediently now that he has such great power."